Six on Saturday – 08OCT2022 – Autumn Colour and Texture

We’ve had a few nights of patchy frost around here (although not in my garden), and the cool temperatures have hastened the retreat of chlorophyll from tree leaves while a few breezy days has hastened the falling of said leaves. Winter is definitely coming, but before that, how about six things in the early October garden, where there’s loads of glorious colour and tantalizing texture. To see six things in October gardens around the world, click on the links over at The Propagator’s site.

I have a few hardy ornamental grasses scattered about the garden, plus this more tropical Cyperus papyrus ‘King Tut.’ Rabbits had found it to be quite tasty early in the summer, nibbling it down to almost nothing, but with a lot of water it quickly rebounded and looks quite fabulous right now. I grew it in a pot this year to make composting the huge root mass easier after a few hard frosts mercilessly kills it.

Leaves on trees and shrubs are changing colour, and also on some perennials. Kind of ironic that the dreaded poison ivy (Toxicodendron) looks so beautiful in October!

Loads of asters are still in full bloom, including Big Leaved Aster – Eurybia macrophylla.

Colchicum is also still blooming:

But it’s the trees, of course, this time of year, that’s the big draw to this part of the country. Maple trees in particular, with their yellow, orange and red leaves. They grow in abundance around the property; my favourite view might be the driveway entrance:

Along with maple, we have oak (with still mainly green leaves – they’re among the last to change colour), basswood, ironwood, cherry, hickory and, for a few more years, ash. This is the wooded area that runs along one side of the yard:

• 

• 

We have a lot of sugar maple but no red maple, which has the crimson red leaves in the fall. They grow just across the street though, and along our road and all over the county. We do have staghorn sumac and various dogwood and their leaves are all a deep red right now.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and Happy Thanksgiving to fellow Canadians.